KUALA TERENGGANU, Oct 27 — The High Court here today dismissed a preliminary objection by the prosecution to strike out an appeal by Sarawak Report founder and editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown to set aside her conviction and two-year prison sentence for defaming the Sultanah of Terengganu Sultanah Nur Zahirah.

Judge Datuk Mohd Radzi Harun decided the matter at a proceeding conducted via Zoom, in which Rewcastle-Brown also participated.

"Having considered the evidence before me thus far, for the purpose of the Preliminary Objection (PO), I rule that the PO by the prosecution shall be overruled.

"It is my ruling that despite the appellant having contended that she does not submit herself to the jurisdiction of the Malaysian court for purposes of the case and the court below, and for this appeal, the appellant must be given the right to canvass her appeal which is centred on the argument that this court has the jurisdiction to hear her appeal,” he said.

He then ordered the appeal by Rewcastle-Brown to be continued physically and for the woman to be physically present with her lawyer,r Guok Ngek Seong, and the prosecution team, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Khairuddin Idris.

Judge Mohd Radzi said the failure of the appellant to be physically present would be taken into account by the court at the end of the hearing of the case on merit.

"This court rules that the legal effect of the appellant’s contention that she does not submit to the jurisdiction of the Malaysian court, and the effect that position through the substantive appeal will only be decided at the end of the hearing of the substantive appeal and not at the stage of this PO.

"This issue remains live and the parties shall continue to submit on this issue at the hearing of the substantive appeal,” he said and set Nov 3 for the case management to review the record of the appeal.

During the proceeding on June 6 this year, the prosecution applied to strike out the appeal by Rewcastle-Brown against her conviction and two-year prison sentence for defaming the Sultanah.

The prosecution requested the appeal to be struck out on the grounds of Rewcastle-Brown’s continuous absence from the entire court proceedings, including the prosecution, conviction, and appeal stages.

Last Feb 7, the Magistrate’s Court here sentenced Rewcastle-Brown to two years in prison after she was found guilty of defaming Sultanah Nur Zahirah under Section 500 of the Penal Code.

According to the charges, Rewcastle-Brown, residing in London, UK, authored a book titled The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé, containing defamatory statements against the Sultanah of Terengganu.

The offence was committed at 8 am on Sept 14, 2018, at Lot 60048, Taman Chendering Utama. — Bernama